Intellectual vs Learning Disability: Difference and Comparison

Some disabilities are not even considered disabilities by us because we are unaware, and they can become chronic disabilities for us when not properly medicated.

Proper checkups and counselling are needed for these types of disabilities. Learning and Intellectual disabilities are the same categories of disabilities in which a person does not know they are disabled until the doctor counsels them.

Key Takeaways

1. Intellectual disability is a condition characterized by significant limitations in cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior while learning disability is a condition that affects a person’s ability to read, write, or perform mathematical calculations.
2. Intellectual disability is caused by genetic or environmental factors that affect brain development, while differences in brain structure or function cause a learning disability.
3. Intellectual disability affects a person’s overall functioning and learning ability, while learning disability specifically affects academic skills.

Intellectual Disability vs Learning Disability

The difference between an Intellectual disability and a Learning disability is that an Intellectual disability is a disability in which the person loses communication skills and does not cope with others. Whereas Learning Disability is a disorder of slow neuron functioning, the person having this disorder cannot read and understand things properly.

Intellectual disability is a neurological disability in which people’s social life gets affected, and their interaction skill decreases. An intellectual disability is considered less intelligent than an average person.

A person who has a learning disability can read and write slowly but is intelligent in other ways than an average person. Albert Einstein was one of them, but he pursues his passion for physics and got successful.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Intellectual Disability	Learning Disability
Definition	Intellectual disability is a neurological disability in which people’s social life gets affected, and their interaction skill decreases.	The person who has a learning disability reads and writes slowly but is intelligent in other ways than an average person.
Disorder type	Intellectual disability is a neurological disorder.	Learning disability is also related to neuron disability.
Affect	It affects people’s social life and communication skills.	It affects learning, reading, and understanding abilities.
Cure level	The recovery level is high, and proper help can balance the situation.	There is no proper help for this, and this disorder can become lifelong or chronic.
Non-functional areas	Communication skills, Memory, logical reasoning, etc.	Reading, writing, understanding, etc.
Treatment or therapy	Speech improvement, Medication, Counseling, etc.	Visual techniques, logic building classes, etc.
Intelligent Quotient level	A person with an intellectual disability has an IQ of around 65-75—less than the average IQ level.	A person with a learning disability has an IQ of around 20-35.

What is Intellectual Disability?

Intellectual disability is not a very known disability, and people having this disability may not get aware of their disability until a doctor counsels them.

If not treated properly, this disorder can decares the IQ level of a person more and more rapidly. And can become a chronic disorder or lifelong problem.

Intellectual disorder, when it becomes acute, can create health-related problems like changes in behaviour from time to time and anxiety issues. Therefore it should be treated as early as possible with good counselling.

What is Learning Disability?

The IQ of those people is in the range of 20-35, which is very low compared to the average IQ of a person. This disability stays lifelong and does not have a precise medication system.

Learning disabilities have many categories, like dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, etc. The logic-building time of a person increases with an increase in the severity of this disorder.

But comparing others’ speed and a person’s speed who has this disorder can illustrate that their speed is relatively slower than the other person’s.

Main Differences Between Intellectual Disability and Learning Disability

1. A doctor can treat intellectual disability. Proper treatment and prescriptions can cure the disability without making it a lifelong problem.
2. If the Intellectual disability becomes chronic, it might decares the IQ level of the patient very rapidly. But in the case of Learning disability, the IQ level is already decreased and might remain the same.

References

1. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2003-04378-012
2. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED509596

Last Updated : 11 June, 2023